Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-09-25

/ me.
hegaining my composure in mo.
ment, and hastily quieting my wife with
a word or two, / descended TO the hall
and opened the door.
A rather rugged-looking boy stood
before me.
g is this DIR. Galenus ?" he asked.
! assured him it was.
There's a gentleman Just over here
on Terrace road" he added. with some
show of excitement, CHATS very sick,
and he begs you to como to him at
! once"
was indisposed TO go out and quite
hastily coniured an excuse
81 am sorry, my young friend, that
owing TO my as yet unsettled condition
here | am quite unprepared TO 90
| out"
"But, sir" he curly interrupted,
"tbeecntleman--Nr. Mr.. Blasewel,-
says he must see you. He told me 1
must bring Pr. Galenus and no other
Recalling then the stories I had heard
Of wealthy ahchorite of this name
living in what WAS known as Castle
Odd, On the Terrace road just out OF
Elmonte, babe the boy wait for me a
moment, and running upstairs plea
sanity soloccd my wife with the asst
rance Of M auspicious business-open-
ing in my new quarters. Then caution
| Ing the faithful servant TO look well b
| her good mistress, ] descended the
stairway again, and with my guide
issued into he street.
The carriage in waiting bore us in a
very short time to Castle DAD, whose
lowering exterior / recognized as,
alightlng from the vehicle, by the fash
of a gateway lamp 1t WAS outlined in
the rather misty atmosphere of the
knoll on which it stood.
A servant appeared with the sound
Of my first football on the stoop, au1
in moment more | was standing
within the spacious hall, flushed, may
say, by the reducss of everything
that warmed my vision from every side
Rugs, curtains, mouldings, screens,
and drapcry of every sort were drip
ping, it apr cared, with an intensity Of
crimson that made the air lurid about
them. and even the glow of the lamps,
reflected through blood-red globes,
contributed to deepen the ruddy glare
that quite appalled, one as more and
more the eye was taxed to resist the
influence. Hurryine along the stair
way in the hope OF getting relief from
this monotony OF color, l was ushorel
into an apartment where the assertion
Of tins parish tendency was even more
conspicuous. The ceiling was one
broad unrelievcd flame, the side walls
Aaring with scarlet peoples, the carpet
a sweeping spread Of cory plush, and
even the curtains Of tine bed whercon
the sufferer lay were fiery t. an extent
that loiled eXtingulshmeni
If my mind, unrclicved by diversion,
Lad been compelled to absorb the in-
fucncCs Of this reflection might have
in time imagined myself bathing in
blood, bat the sound Of rapid, anxious
breathing from the couch invited my
professional interest, and proceeding 20
tLe side of the bed on which the patient
vas lying, I took his feycrish hand in
mine, and, bending my ear to his chest,
soon forgot in study Of his symptoms
tie unpleasant suggcsiiyeness Of the
Uddy luXuriancc about me.
4 brief examination ,u0icc1 to reveal
tire presence Of pneumonia jus, enter
ing upon its second stage. The hot
slim, accelerated respiration, and omi-
nous crcpitation were al manifest, and
without arousing the victim from the
fitiul sleep into which he had fallen, /
turned TO a small DIES, at hanI 10 write
q prescription for the remedies inli-
Gated.
Requesting the servant to increase
the light Just overhead, / heard move
mont on the pillow, and turning rs
brighter flare Of red illUminel the
couch, l caught the fash of O pair Of
eyes that burned their way into my
very soul.
My God" I exclaimed, cit is
Sampson Hardy ~
Not the rudy light, nor the shaggy
beard, nor the strange citation of the
eyes could DISGUISE that face sufficiently
TO remove from il the stamp OF horror
with which the moonlight had i'm
pressed it on that night Of nights ten
years agone. With one throb Of my
pulse came the pistols flash, the shock
OF pain, the long season Of anguish and
suffering, and my sisters lingering
death, and, making an effort TO dash
from thereon, / reoled and fell heavily
to the floor.
Returning consciousness f0unl me
in cushioned chair by the bedside,
and was aroused to a thorough I'M
dorstandiug Of the situation by q low,
thick voice repeating very deliberately:
"Dr. Galeuus Or. Galenus ! You
are here to respond to a call Of duty.
] look TO you to remember that, and
that only"
For brief interval l could not com
mand MY speech. The supreme auda-
city Of the man in putting his life, at
critical moment, in the hands OF one
whom he Rad so cruelty wronged, com
mandcd MY admiration, il it did not
on tie instant tlatter my professional
honor. looked on HMM that silence
which betokcns the iuadeqlocy Of
words, and as ] looked, his face as
sumcd 10 me, as memory asserted the
supremacy and blotted out the lines Of
later wears and the influences of the
present. tho same demon-likc expires
sion Il flashed at me from the ambush
on that dreadful night, and for the time
being a fury seemed 10 fire my blood,
and as felt my temples flush aud my
musclCs grow rigid with the iron Of rc-
veupe, haltchecked middleton
feared TO my lips aud 1 exclaimed
"lf Fate has at last brought you to
yCm doom, Sampson Hardy, ! an the
last man in the world you should ask
TO avert it.
With manifest effort he raised him
self on one elbow. peered atme search
ingly as he paused for breath, and then
smd-almost gasping at intervals As he
spoke
Doctor Calenus Mind you, say
Doctor Galenus-the emergency IS one
which calls upon you to assert the
integrity Of your profession. DO You
prefer to emphasize the worlds ridlcalo
II your Wanted honor ,"
Even rs he made the effort to speak.
aud before the first word had escaped
bis lips, the fierceness of my vengeiul
spirit had been assuAged by the asSer-
ton of my better nature, and as he
sank upon his pillow painting with the
exertion the humanity that was in me
would have urged me to his assistance